Box Turtle Bulletin

NH Anti-Gays Admit that “Religious Protections” are Redundant

Opponents of marriage equality only have a few arrows in their quiver. The strongest of these is “infringing on religious freedoms” and they have a handful of anecdotes that can be distorted to appear as though churches are going to lose their rights to speak or believe according to their faith.

Those who favor marriage equality consistently respond that we have no interest in infringing on their rights to religious self-determination nor are we trying to micro-manage their faith. And we point out that we couldn’t do so even if we wanted to; the First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the rights of religions.

However, in Connecticut and Vermont – and now proposed in New Hampshire – are reassurances, special provisions included to assure religions and those who practice them that their preachers and houses of worship will not be compelled to conduct ceremonies contrary to their faith. And those favoring marriage equality are not concerned because we know that these protections are already present in the Constitution.

But now that we offer these concessions, anti-gays are still not pleased. Because, as they’ve known all along, the objections which they raised were not truthful to begin with.

Consider the words of Kevin H. Smith, the executive director of anti-gay group Cornerstone Policy Research:

“The folks who [they are] claiming to be protecting in this bill are already protected in the First Amendment by the freedom of religion…”

Anti-gays have known all along that their claims that churches would lose their tax exempt status or preachers would be jailed was nothing but hot air. A convenient lie told to advance a political agenda, but one that they know full well is untrue.

ADF Sues Michigan Group For Disrupting Church Services

The Alliance Defense Fund, an a Scottsdale-based anti-gay legal group, has filed a federal lawsuit against the “Bash Back!” anarchists who invaded a church during morning worship services near Lansing, Michigan. Here is the ADF’s statement:

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit in federal court Wednesday against a radical anarchist group that openly advocates the use of riots and crime to further its views in favor of homosexual behavior. ADF attorneys filed the suit on behalf of Delta Township\’s Mount Hope Church against the group “Bash Back!,” which invaded the church\’s building during a worship service on Nov. 9 of last year.

“The use of violent threats and criminal behavior to make a political point should never be acceptable in America,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “Bash Back! revealed how dangerous the homosexual agenda is to our First Liberty, religious freedom. ADF filed this suit to stop Bash Back! and other activist groups from invading churches, disrupting worship, silencing pastors, and terrifying adults and children who attend religious services.”

A local news account of what happened is here. The ADF cites a clause of the “Freedom to Access To Clinics Act,” which was intended to protect those who provide or obtain abortions. That clause also protects places of worship by prohibiting actions by anyone who:

(2) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship;

What “Bash Back!” did was clearly inexcusable and against the law. It was also abyslmally stupid. My dad used to tell me that even a broken clock is right twice a day. I think this is the first time I’ve ever said this about the ADF, but the ADF and Mount Hope Church are very much in the right. “Bash Back!” clearly and deliberately violated Mount Hope’s First Amendment rights and should be held accountable for it.

The New New Hampshire Marriage Provision

Governor John Lynch of New Hampshire has released the language that he will require to be added to the marriage bill before his signature will allow New Hampshire to join five other states in providing marriage equality. In my opinion, this strikes a fair balance between providing civil equality and allowing churches their own autonomy.

I. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a religious organization, association, or society, or any individual who is managed, directed, or supervised by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society, shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges to an individual if such request for such services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges is related to the solemnization of a marriage, the celebration of a marriage, or the promotion of marriage through religious counseling, programs, courses, retreats, or housing designated for married individuals, and such solemnization, celebration, or promotion of marriage is in violation of their religious beliefs and faith. Any refusal to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges in accordance with this section shall not create any civil claim or cause of action or result in any state action to penalize or withhold benefits from such religious organization, association or society, or any individual who is managed, directed, or supervised by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society.

II. The marriage laws of this state shall not be construed to affect the ability of a fraternal benefit society to determine the admission of members pursuant to RSA 418:5, and shall not require a fraternal benefit society that has been established and is operating for charitable and educational purposes and which is operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization to provide insurance benefits to any person if to do so would violate the fraternal benefit society\’s free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States and part 1, article 5 of the Constitution of New Hampshire

III. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed or construed to limit the protections and exemptions provided to religious organizations under RSA § 354-A:18.

IV. Repeal. RSA 457-A, relative to civil unions, is repealed effective January 1, 2011, except that no new civil unions shall be established after January 1, 2010.

These changes are expected to be implemented quickly and the first same-sex marriages in New Hampshire will occur in January 2010. (Boston Globe)

“I applaud the governor for keeping an open mind,” Senate president Sylvia Larsen said in an interview last night. “The language that we will be addressing only improves the protections for religious organizations and individuals.”

Representative James Splaine, the primary sponsor of the same-sex marriage legislation, said: “We can find a way to do that in the next week or two, and then we’ll have marriage equality.”

Riga City Council Tries To Ban Baltic Pride

City officials in Riga, Latvia,  banned the Baltic Pride march planned for Saturday, but a court has overturned that ban.

The march had been approved by city officials, but a majority of the city council members moved to overturn the decision. Mozaika, the Lithuanian Gay League and Estonian Gay Youth, the group that had organized the march, challenged the decision in court. The court overturned the ban less than twenty-four hours before the march was due to take place.

Pride celebrations three years ago were marred by angry protests and feces-throwing. Janis Dzelme was found guilty of “gross public disorderliness” in connection with the incident. He worked in the Saeima (Parliament) for Dainis Turlais of the Latvia First Party, and is a member of Alexai Ledyaev\’s New Generation Church. The Latvia First Party is closely connected with New Generation and Watchmen On the Walls, a millitant anti-gay organization. Dainis Turlais has a reputation for being among the most homophobic lawmakers in Parliament, calling gays “pigs” and “bacteria.” Ledyaev was in the court room to hear the verdict and sentence along with 20 members of New Generation.

Last year’s march went ahead without incident.

When Words Lose All Meaning

It was just a month ago when Exodus Vice President Randy Thomas finally got around to commenting on Exodus board member Don Schmierer’s participation at an anti-gay conference in Uganda alongside Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively. While leaders of that conference endorsed a policy of forcing people into ex-gay therapy upon conviction under that country’s draconian anti-sodomy law, Don Schmierer — the supposed ex-gay “expert” at the conference — remained silent. While we feared that this would spark another round of anti-gay vigilantism, arrests and torture (and it has),  Thomas rushed to Schmierer’s defense. He also admonished us for demanding accountability on the part of Exodus:

It isn\’t going to be a gay activist yelling at the Ugandan government that will actually get our ssa brothers and sisters out of jail. It will be people like me pleading with these leaders to recognize the Christ-likeness inherent in respecting self-determination and the dignity of every soul that draws breath. If I had the opportunity I would go directly to the jail and visit these people and plead for their freedom.

My gut response: “Book the damn flight already.”

Well, it’s been exactly one month later. Two gay men, at last report, have been jailed in Mbele, one more in Mukono and reportedly another in Entebbe. And more people, some of them not gay, are also getting caught up in accusations, kidnapping and torture.

And lo and behold, Randy Thomas has indeed booked a flight.

To London.

He had a fabulous time with fellow ex-gay leaders Christine Sneeringer and Sy Rogers. He had a nice dinner and took in a West End musical. So many things to see and places to go, and lots and lots of photos.

Meanwhile in Uganda, those guys are still in jail, waiting for him to plead for their freedom. Now that he’s got his passport and knows how to use it, I’m sure Thomas will be jetting off to Kampala any day now.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Wisconsin Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Const. Amendment

Per the Wisconsin Radio Network:

The court announced on Thursday it will review a case brought by William McConkey.

The UW-Oskosh political science professor filed a lawsuit challenging the 2006 amendment on the grounds that it was improperly put before voters. McConkey argues the ballot question not only asked voters to ban gay marriage, but also any “similar” legal arrangement such as civil unions. He says the question was unconstitutional because the issues should have been put to voters separately.

Lynch Will Sign Marriage…. IF

The AP is reporting,

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch says he will sign a bill to make his state the sixth to legalize gay marriage, but only if it strengthens protections for churches opposed to gay marriage.

He says that the current protections should be beefed up to equal those of Connecticut and Vermont.

The language in HB 436 regarding protections is as follows:

457:37 Affirmation of Freedom of Religion in Marriage. Members of the clergy as described in RSA 457:31 or other persons otherwise authorized under law to solemnize a marriage shall not be obligated or otherwise required by law to officiate at any particular civil marriage or religious rite of marriage in violation of their right to free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or by part I, article 5 of the New Hampshire constitution.

There is a follow-up bill, HB 310, which provides as follows:

457:31-b Solemnization of Marriage; Applicability.

I. Nothing contained in this chapter shall affect the right of Jewish Rabbis residing in this state, or of the people called Friends or Quakers, to solemnize marriages in the way usually practiced among them, and all marriages so solemnized shall be valid. Jewish Rabbis residing out of the state may obtain a special license as provided by RSA 457:32.

II. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a person authorized to solemnize a marriage in a religious ceremony from solemnizing a marriage in a civil ceremony.

7 Affirmation of Freedom of Religion in Marriage. Amend RSA 457:37 to read as follows:

457:37 Affirmation of Freedom of Religion in Marriage.

I. Members of the clergy as described in RSA 457:31 or other persons otherwise authorized under law to solemnize a marriage shall not be obligated or otherwise required by law to officiate at any particular civil marriage or religious rite of marriage in violation of their right to free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or by part I, article 5 of the New Hampshire constitution.

II. No religious organization, association, or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised, or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, shall be required to participate in a ceremony solemnizing marriage in violation of the religious beliefs of such organization, association, or society.

Taken in combination, the only protections in the Connecticut or Vermont legislation that do not appear to be explicitly stated here is whether such organizations are obligated to provide goods or services (e.g. a hall). I’ve no objection to such a clarification.

UPDATE:

Lynch has proposed his own specific language.

“If the Legislature passes this language, I will sign the same-sex marriage bill into law. If the Legislature doesn’t pass these provisions, I will veto it,” Lynch said. “We can and must treat both same-sex couples and people of certain religious traditions with respect and dignity. I believe this proposed language will accomplish both of these goals and I urge the Legislature to pass it.”

I do not yet have the specific proposed language.

UPDATE 2:

From Reuters:

The governor’s suggested changes would make clear that religious groups would not be required to perform gay weddings if their beliefs prohibited it, and that they would not be held liable in court for refusing such services.

The language would also make clear that social groups and other organizations affiliated with religious entities did not have to provide benefits to gay couples.

UPDATE 3:

New York Times says

Legislative leaders indicated they would allow the changes, making it all but certain that New Hampshire will become the sixth state to allow marriage between gay couples.

“New Hampshire\’s great tradition has always been to come down on the side of individual liberties and protections,” Mr. Lynch, a Democrat, said in a statement. “But following that tradition means we must act to protect both the liberty of same-sex couples and religious liberty.”

Rhode Island Debates Marriage

The Providence Journal reports that yesterday’s debates over marriage were contentous, with Catholic activists on one side and equality supporters on the other. There were a few items that made me chuckle.

It was a heated evening, punctured by emotional moments, including one where a group of women spotted a man in a “Mr. Gay Rhode Island” sash and surrounded him, praying and offering advice that his lifestyle was wrong.

Because, ya know, he was “forcing his lifestyle down their throat.”

In his own turn at the microphone, the Rev. Bernard Healey, lobbyist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, said opposition to that view does not amount to discrimination. “It has been and continues to be the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church as well as the existing state law that marriage is the union of a man and a woman,” Healey said.

As seems to be quite common these days, the local Catholic leader showed up and declared by divine right that discrimination against gay couples isn’t discrimination. Cuz he says so. Based on the traditions of his religion.

I wonder if it ever crosses their mind that any group, no matter how extreme, hateful, or bigoted, can claim that the brand of mistreatment of others that they favor “does not amount to discrimination” based on their own beliefs. I suspect they are so convinced of their moral authority to declare what must be believed without question that they never consider that “cuz I said so” only works on small children. And those who think like small children.

Thirty one of the 75 House members cosponsored this year\’s gay-marriage bill. But many Rhode Islanders believe it could take time before the Ocean State approves such unions, something they attribute to resistance from Smith Hill leaders and the state\’s powerful religious establishment.

Governor Carcieri ardently opposes the measure, with House Speaker William J. Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed also voicing resistance.

If they have 31 cosponsors then it’s almost certain that this bill would pass. They only need seven others to vote “yes”. But, yet again, “leadership” seems at times more like autocracy.

In the prior dozen years the bill has come before the legislature, it has never been voted out of committee. No decisions were made Wednesday about the fate of this year\’s bill.

Sigh. And so Rhode Island will continue as an island of refuge for New England’s anti-gays.

Uruguay To Remove Ban On Gays In Military, U.S. Still Dithering

Uruguay — Uruguay! — is about to lift its ban on gays in the military. Defense Minister Jose Bayardi has signed a decree lifting the ban imposed by the 1973-85 military dictatorship.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama promises to study the move for the U.S. military. He’ll get right back to you on it.

Uganda’s Anti-Gay Campaign Snares LGBT People and Rival Pastors, Tabloid Promises More “Outings”

The situation in Uganda continues to deteriorate, with the latest anti-gay campaign now descending into what appears to be a circular firing squad among rival Pentecostal pastors. But while that civil war is going on, LGBT Ugandans continue to be caught up in the crossfire. The anonymous blogger Gay Uganda reproduced a statement from Sexual Minorities Uganda about the arrest of two gay men in Mbale:

Sexual Minorities Uganda – SMUG, visited Mbale and learnt that Fred Wasukira who is commonly known as Namboozo Margrete is business man in Mbale town who owns a bar and several houses in Mbale. On the night of 7th April 2009, the two were witnessed in a romantic mood at a bar in Namakweki Mbale district and according to the Police officer we talked to, the two were calling each other by names “darling , sweetheart” , we were told that from the bar Fred and Brian proceeded to their house where they were followed by residents, who alerted area local councils and the Police. They were caught kissing and cuddling at their house. Police and area local councils picked them up and took them to Mbale Police station, where they were held until the 17th April. 2008. At Maluke Prison we were not allowed to visit the prisoners saying it was not a visiting day, however we confirmed that they are on remand at Maluke Prison in Mbale.

That was in early April. On April 30, Gay Uganda reported that the two were still being held by police. He also reports of a seventeen year old male in Mukono who has been sentenced to life imprisonment, and another case in Entebbe. Gay Uganda continues:

Suddenly, prison is becoming something that anyone suspected of being gay gets rail roaded to. Doesn\’t matter that you may not be gay. Or you may not be guilty. Fact is, us seasoned gay people are kind of too suspicious to be caught in the act. But damn!

L-R: Don Schmierer, Scott Lively, Lee Caleb Brundidge

This latest campaign began nearly two and a half months ago when three American anti-gay activists spoke at a conference in Kampala organized by Pastor Stephen Langa’s Family Life Network. That conference featured Exodus board president Don Schmierer, Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively, and purported raiser-of-the-dead and Richard Cohen protegé Caleb Lee Brundidge.

The March 3-5 conference called for Uganda’s laws against homosexuality — which currently call for a life sentence — to be “strengthened” with an option to force those convicted into ex-gay therapy. Exodus International “applauded” Schmierer\’s role at the conference, but Exodus President Alan Chambers later tried to wash his hands of responsibility for it as the repercussions of the conference unfolded.

April 19, 2009 edition of Uganda's Red Pepper (Scans via GayUganda. Names and faces obscured by Box Turtle Bulletin. Click to enlarge).

Those repercussions include a public outing campaign which named more than sixty people in the pages of the tabloid newspaper The Red Pepper. In an interview posted Monday on the South African web site Beyond the Mask, the News Editor for The Red Pepper, Ben Byarabaha, promised to continue the outing campaign. Byarabaha said, “We are just exposing the vice, the immorality from colonialists that is eluding African culture. As long as the practice is still illegal, we shall continue the campaign.”

LGBT people aren’t the only ones in danger of being caught up in this latest anti-gay vigilante campaign. Uganda’s anti-gay religious leaders are taking advantage of the opportunity to accuse rival pastors of homosexuality.

George Oundo

The first round in this pastor-against-pastor conflict was fired soon after George Oundo claimed to have been saved and became an immediate “ex-gay” in Pastor Martin Ssempa’s Makerere Community Church in Kampala. Oundo’s “salvation” occurred sometime after he went sought money from Uganda’s fledgling LGBT rights organzation, Sexual Minorities Uganda. Apparently snubbed by the LGBT community, Oundo found a savior in Ssempa and Pastor Stephen Langa, director of Kampala-based Family Life Network.

Ssempa had led several anti-gay campaigns in the past, but this time he appears to be taking a back seat to Langa, who organized a news conference featuring Oundo. It was at that news conference where Oundo named a popular Catholic priest, Fr. Anthony Musaala, as a homosexual. Musaala, whose Charismatic Renewal Movement has a huge youth following, just happens to be a longtime rival of Ssempa.

Other pastors are jumping onto the “outing” bandwagon to settle scores as well, and the rivalries are so complex that it takes some diagramming to keep it all straight. Here goes: Pastor Solomon Male of Arise for Christ Ministry accused Pastor Robert Kayanja of the Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral of being a homosexual, along with “a group of other pastors.” Kayanja’s Rubaga Miracle Center is a very large and prosperous megachurch in Kampala. (Controversial American faith healer Benny Hinn will present a “Fire Conference” at that church on June 5th and 6th.) But an apparent friend of Kayanjka, Pastor Joseph Serwadda of the Victory Christian Centre, another megachurch in the Ndeeba section of Kampala which operates two FM stations, accused Male of of being an impostor, saying that he doesn’t even have a church.

L-R: Pastor Robert Kayanja, Pastor Michael Kyazze, alleged kidnap victim Chris Muwonge (New Vision)

Kayanja’s personal aide, Chris Muwonge, was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by armed men and held for five days. His captors allegedly wanted him to make a video statement accusing Kayenja of molesting young boys. Kayanja accused his rival, Pastor Michael Kyazze of the Omega Healing Center of being behind the plot. Kyazze’s assistant, Pastor Robert Kayiira was arrested earlier for trying to sneak a laptop computer into Kayanja’s Miracle Center. His close friend? Pastor Solomon Male. Kayanja reportedly believes that Martin Ssempa is involved in the allegations against him as well.

Medics carrying Tumukunde to an ambulance. (Red Pepper)

Solomon decries the kidnapping as “a desperate but tactical attempt to divert attention from the broader anti-homo and cult awareness campaign.” That’s right. He also accuses his rivals of fraud, “miracle faking,” and human sacrifices. And now there is a report that another Kayanja aide, Herbert Tumukunde, was kidnapped and tortured. He was reportedly rescued just as he was drenched in kerosene and was about to be set on fire.

Meanwhile, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of the Church of Uganda was fending off insinuations that he was gay. The Rt. Rev. Senyonjo believes those insinuations came from the Church of Uganda’s Archbishop Luke Orombi. Senyonjo is the retired bishop of West Buganda Diocese. He has written and spoken out in support of Uganda’s beleaguered LGBT community. Senyonjo isn’t gay, but merely speaking up in support of LGBT people can draw dangerous accusations in the current climate.

That, or being a rival pastor.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

A Bipartisan Bill in California

California’s legislative districts were drawn years ago to guarantee election security to select politicians. Rather than reflect cities or communities, they ensure that some seats belong to Democrats and others to Republicans. The result is that the legislature tends to consist of far-left Democrats and far-right Republicans.

When it comes to votes of interest to the gay community, votes tend to be party line (or very close to it). So I’m fascinated by an email I received from Equality California telling of a recent vote:

The bill, which will require prisons to include sexual orientation and gender identity when identifying prisoners who need protection, passed by an overwhelming margin of 65 to 9. 14 of the 29 Republican members voted for the legislation and 6 members abstained from the vote.

Now I’ll admit that it seems a no-brainer that you’d want to take any factors into considerationthat would reduce prison rape, no matter what they were. But California grows a brand of homophobe that sees even the most benign of issues through the spectrum of “fighting the militant homosexual agenda”. They would say “no” to gay soup.

And these groups have a history of being loud and influential in the Republican caucus. Or until now they have. Perhaps one side-effect of the Proposition 8 campaign was the exposure of the extent to which California’s anti-gays will go.

I’m hoping (perhaps a bit unduly) that this vote is a sign of things to come. That while there are nine members of the California Assembly that would rather let prisoners be raped than to “compromise with the homosexual agenda”, at least some Republicans are starting to recognize that – even in a primary – being a raging homophobe isn’t going to be a winning position.

Keith Olbermann takes on Carrie’s Martyr Act

Carrie Prejean’s 15 minutes have come and gone. And then some. And I am sick of writing about this self-obsessed, holier-than-thou, hypocritical bimbo (no offense to anyone).

However, Keith Olbermann does a very good job of expressing exactly my opinion as to her latest weepy press conference in which she tries to pass herself off as a righteous victim who has a constitutional right to express her opinion without any recourse or disagreement. So if you can stand but a few more moments of the face (and boobs) of the “traditional marriage” movement, here he is.

Miss California Executive Director Quits

Moakler is the one that doesn't look like a drag queen

Shanna Moakler is not pleased with the decision by Donald Trump to let Carrie Prejean keep her title as Miss California USA. She believed that when pictures surfaced that proved that Prejean had lied about posing topless and when Prejean cut off all contact with the Miss California Pageant in order to engage in a devisive anti-gay campaign that she was no longer able to carry out her duties.

Donald Trump disagreed. Approaching the controversy from a businessman-owner’s perspective, he was less concerned about role-models and pageantry and more interested in whether Prejean was beautiful (which he repeated several times) and with how the controversy impacted him.

Today Moakler decided she could no longer participate in an institution that undercut her efforts. She released a statement to US Magazine:

“I cannot with a clear conscious move forward supporting and promoting the Miss Universe Organization when I no longer believe in it, or the contracts I signed committing myself as a youth,” she continues. “I want to be a role model for young woman with high hopes of pageantry, but now feel it more important to be a role model for my children. I am sorry and hope I have not let any young supporters down but wish them the best of luck in fulfilling their dreams.”

Analysis of the New York Assembly Vote

The New York State Assembly passed the marriage equality bill 89 to 52. This is reason for celebration. But a closer look suggests that this victory is particularly sweet.

The Assembly voted for a marriage bill in 2007, as well. But in that vote the count was 85 to 61. And while this year’s vote only has four more “yes” votes, the margin of victory increased from 24 to 37.

Elizabeth Benjamin, who writes for the Daily News with the sort of political analysis that I enjoy reading, provides some detail:

Five members who had voted “no” changed their votes – two Republicans: Fred Thiele and Janet Duprey, bringing the total number of GOP “yes” votes to five; two Democrats: Sandy Galef and Bob Reilly; and one Independence Party member, Tim Gordon).

In addition, there were a number of members who were “excused for other reasons” and some seats changed hands. But the net result shows a healthy increase in support, one which suggests that the brand of political calculus engaged in by politicians shows that supporting marriage equality is a safe position.

[Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan] Van Capelle predicted the vote would prove to be the “tipping point” that pushes the Senate to follow the Assembly’s lead and muster the 32 votes necessary to pass the bill this year. (O’Donnell made much the same argument to me before the vote started).

Getting Republicans to vote “yes” and Democrats who had voted “no” to change their minds is what will move the Senate “from good to great,” Van Capelle said, adding: “I know now this is the last time this house will have to vote on this bill.”

“The Fierce Urgency Of Whenever”

Andrew Sullivan taps into the impatience that many of us are feeling surrounding the Obama administration’s delay and prevarication on LGBT issues:

Here we are, in the summer of 2009, with gay servicemembers still being fired for the fact of their orientation. Here we are, with marriage rights spreading through the country and world and a president who cannot bring himself even to acknowledge these breakthroughs in civil rights, and having no plan in any distant future to do anything about it at a federal level. Here I am, facing a looming deadline to be forced to leave my American husband for good, and relocate abroad because the HIV travel and immigration ban remains in force and I have slowly run out of options (unlike most non-Americans with HIV who have no options at all).

And what is Obama doing about any of these things? What is he even intending at some point to do about these things? So far as I can read the administration, the answer is: nada. We’re firing Arab linguists? So sorry. We won’t recognize in any way a tiny minority of legally married couples in several states because they’re, ugh, gay? We had no idea. There’s a ban on HIV-positive tourists and immigrants? Really? Thanks for letting us know. Would you like to join Joe Solmonese and John Berry for cocktails? The inside of the White House is fabulous these days.

Two weeks ago, the Human Rights Campaign’s Joe Solmonese emerged from a White House meeting with a blank check allowing the administration to delay away. He announced that he was pleased with the meeting. “They have a vision,” he said. “They have a plan.” So I guess there’s no need for the HRC to risk its White House access to apply any pressure.

And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when the White House takes its cues from LGBT advocates. That may explain why White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gave the longest series of non-answers yesterday to some rather simple questions from ABC New’s Jack Tapper on LGBT issues that we’ve seen in a long time. No pressure? No problem.